vii

FOREWORD

Improved access to and use of public sector information is of major importance for all economies. It has increasingly taken centre stage from being a somewhat peripheral issue often confused with freedom of information. The OECD has undertaken extensive work analysing and providing policy principles for the development and use of public sector information. This information ranges from weather and map information generated by governments through to public sector broadcasting archives, museums and art repositories where the information is held by governments. Free access to public sector information has been a cornerstone of US policy and this has been strengthened with the 2009 release of the US open government directive based on principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration. The 2003 EC Directive on the re-use of public sector information has been designed and implemented to expand and improve use.

The OECD Recommendation on public sector information provides policy guidelines designed to improve access and increase use of public sector information through greater transparency, enhanced competition and more competitive pricing. This was adopted by the OECD Council on 30 April 2008 and is reproduced in Chapter 25 of this book. This work was based on principles for enhanced access and more effective use for public and private sectors to increase total returns on public investments and economic and social benefits through more efficient distribution, enhanced innovation, development of new uses, and market-based competition.

It was based on findings that there were barriers and difficulties in the development and commercial and non-commercial re-use of public sector information and content. Continuing obstacles include: restrictive or unclear rules governing access and conditions of re-use; discouraging, unclear and inconsistent pricing of information when re-use of information is chargeable; complex and lengthy licensing procedures; inefficient distribution to final users; barriers to development of international markets; and the role of public sector organisations as collectors, producers and disseminators of public sector information is not always clear, particularly in competitive market areas.

The Recommendation framework is underpinned by a set of general principles that are common to most approaches to improving access to public sector information. These include that the principles, e.g. on openness and re-use, apply to a different extent to different categories of information and content. They take account of: legal requirements and restrictions, including IPRs and trade secrets; privacy, confidentiality, and national security concerns; democracy, human rights, and freedom of information. They encourage greater access and use regardless of IP ownership. And finally strengthening the role of non-public sectors in producing, developing and disseminating information and content may require changes in legislation, organisation and budgets.

The four accession countries to the OECD (Chile, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia) have all formally accepted the Recommendation following review of their PSI policies. In general they viiihave made considerable progress towards making public sector information more widely and transparently available and access more competitive, uniform and well-known.

Taking into account the economic and social importance of this area, and the need for greater transparency and improved mechanisms for enhancing access to and use of public sector Information, the analysis and discussion in this book is a very welcome addition to the growing literature tackling this important subject.

 

Dr Graham Vickery
Head, Information Economy Group,
Information, Computer and Communications Policy Division
Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry
OECD Paris
17 February 2010